


A Sort of Homecoming

by owlmoose



Series: Pieces of Thedas [13]
Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Siblings, Warden Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-31
Updated: 2012-10-31
Packaged: 2017-11-17 10:51:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/550755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlmoose/pseuds/owlmoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a mission with the Grey Wardens, Bethany and Carver Hawke end up in the last place they ever expected to see again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sort of Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a birthday gift for seimaisin, and inspired by an AU she wrote where Bethany and Carver both joined the Grey Wardens.

By now, Bethany Hawke was used to being told as much as her commanding officer thought she needed to know about a mission, and not a lick more. Secrecy was a long habit among the Grey Wardens, and although the Warden Commander was better than most about explaining things, this time Stroud was in charge. So it came as no surprise to be three weeks into the Deep Roads with no more idea of why they were there than she'd had when they left Amaranthine.

She was used to it, she thought as she kicked a pebble and watched it bounce down the packed-earth trail, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Once, Bethany would've accepted the current state of affairs; she had spent her whole life shielded from unpleasant realities, her parents and brothers keeping her safe by keeping her in the dark. Carver had always been the impatient one, the one who asked pointed questions and refused to take anything lying down. But their years with the Wardens had changed them both, mellowing Carver as Bethany became more assertive, and she had spent every night at camp pestering Stroud, and anyone else who would listen, for details. But the senior Wardens had kept their council, and the other junior members had no information to share. "So frustrating," she said to Carver, who walked next to her, torch in his left hand as they both scanned the area ahead for darkspawn.

"We seem to be stopping, at least." Carver gestured ahead with his free hand to where Stroud stood, the other Wardens gathering around him. The whole trek had been underground, through dank and dark tunnels -- "Not dwarf construction, which means darkspawn, and recently, too," Oghren had said, "so they've gotta be from the Fifth Blight." At least they had been empty, with only a few ambushes along the way. So the grime on everyone's faces was mostly dirt, not so much blood, though the dirt was bad enough.

"Not much chance for a bath, I suppose," she grumbled.

"I'll find you a stream first thing," Carver promised. "Now hush. Looks like Stroud's about to say something."

"For once." Bethany kept her voice low, but Sigrun, standing right in front of her, let out a chuckle. Stroud's head snapped up in their direction, and Bethany stared back, not too sorry that he'd noticed. Maybe he'd learn to answer her questions next time.

Stroud cleared his throat and made sure he had everyone's attention before he began. "As you will have surmised, these are tunnels created by the horde during the most recent Blight." Somewhere in the crowd, Bethany thought she heard a grunt of satisfaction from Oghren, and she smiled. "We had some ideas where they might lead, but we needed to make sure. Now we must sweep the area, above ground and below, to ensure that stragglers cannot lodge here, make it a stronghold for future invasions. Our scout has found a tunnel that leads to the surface, so we will start there. You'll be broken into teams when we make sunshine. Any questions? Good." Pointedly ignoring Bethany's raised hand, he turned around with a wave of his arm, and the team gathered behind him. "To the surface, then; we should be there within the hour."

By Bethany's reckoning, it was closer to an hour and a half by the time she caught the first glimpse of sunlight in the distance, and another twenty minutes before Stroud halted them again and bade them take a minute in dim light to give their eyes a chance to adjust. Fifteen minutes after that, he gave the order to move, and Bethany surged forward, unable to contain her anticipation any longer. She had come to appreciate a few things about being a Grey Warden, but days and weeks and months without seeing the sky was never going to be one of them. In her eagerness, she broke away from Carver, and so she was alone when she was confronted by a sight she never thought she'd see again.

A clearing, surrounded by spiky crags. Grasses and trees withered by Blight, a sun high in a brilliant blue sky. And the ground, littered with bones. Hurlock bones, genlock bones, the charred remains of a templar's armor. And the skull of a ogre: teeth ground down to points, horns deadly sharp. Bethany approached it, slowly, her staff drawn as though the beast might raise from the dead to menace her again, to finish the job it had started when it nearly killed Carver, all those years ago. If he hadn't gotten a lucky blow across its neck, if she hadn't been close enough to heal him...

"Bethany!" It was a shout of horror, but she could not respond to it; she was frozen in place, in her memories, unable to tear her gaze away. So Carver came to her instead, his hand closing around her shoulder and finally breaking the spell.

She took a deep breath and looked at him, then looked around, taking in the wider scene: the remains of a village in the valley, the few houses that remained little more than ruins, the empty Chantry's spire reaching in vain for the sky. "Lothering."

"I can't believe it," he said, hushed. "I figured it was lost, but to see it like this, to know--" His voice broke on the last word, and his fingers tightened their grip; she put away her staff and covered his hand with hers.

"Yes." She could force out nothing further, so they stood in silence, united in grief for lost friends, a community scattered. Their home, the only one they had ever had, ruined and gone.

The spell was finally broken by a soft noise behind them; Bethany turned around to see Stroud, frowning behind his mustache. "You missed getting your assignments. Is something wrong?"

Bethany exchanged a look with Carver; his small shrug left the choice up to her. She opened her mouth to deny everything, to keep secrets from him just as he always did from her, but something in his eyes stopped her. The light furrow to his brow spoke of concern, not anger, and so she chose the truth. "We lived in Lothering. This is the first time we've been back since the Blight. Just taking a moment to pay our respects."

"Ah." The frown smoothed. "Many Fereldens lost homes in the Blight, but none so thoroughly as the people of Lothering. My condolences."

"Thank you." Her reply was more or less automatic, but she could not keep a lilt of surprise from her voice; next to her, Carver tapped his chest and nodded his own thanks. 

"Ready to move on then? Good." The brusqueness of tone that Bethany expected from Stroud was back, and somehow that made her smile. "You're teamed with Sigrun and Devin, to scout from here to the highway. Be back in the valley camp by sunset." He strode off without waiting for a response.

As he left, Bethany took one more look over the ruined village. "This is why we're here, isn't it?" She glanced up at her brother, who looked back at her with solemn eyes. "We're keeping this from happening to anyone else's home ever again."

He moved his hand from her elbow to her shoulder, and gave it a light squeeze. "Indeed."

"Well." She responded to his grin with a sideways smile of her own. "We should get to it, then."


End file.
